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Emotional Ignorance: Misadventures in the Science of Emotion Paperback – 4 Jan. 2024

by Dean Burnett (Author)

56 ratings

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Recommended by the New Scientist.

'Brilliant.' Stylist

'Thoughtful and thought-provoking – you need to read this book' Gina Rippon

'An affecting and illuminating book for anyone who has feelings, and who wants to know why.' Katie Mack

Emotions can be a pain. After losing his dad to Covid-19, Dean Burnett found himself wondering what life would be like without them. And so, he decided to put his feelings under the microscope – for science.

In Emotional Ignorance, Dean takes us on an incredible journey of discovery, stretching from the origins of life to the end of the universe. Along the way he reveals:

- why we would ever follow our gut;
- whether things really were better in the old days;
- why doomscrolling is so addictive;
- and how sad music can make us happier.

Combining expert analysis, brilliant humour and powerful insights into the grieving process, Dean uncovers how, far from holding us back, our emotions make us who we are.

Readers love Emotional Ignorance:

‘Intriguing, illuminating and thought-provoking.’

‘A fascinating exploration of our emotions and how they enhance all of our lives (and why it doesn’t always feel that way).’

‘A scientific book about emotions that causes emotions. A wonder indeed.’

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Fascinating ― Daily Mail

An affecting and illuminating book for anyone who has feelings, and who wants to know why. -- Katie Mack, author of The End of Everything

A much needed update on emotions and their role in our behaviour. The author demonstrates his gift for making the complex workings of the human brain engaging and accessible and bravely lays bare his own experience of the powerful emotion of grief and the process of grieving. Genuinely thoughtful and thought-provoking - you need to read this book. -- Gina Rippon, author of The Gendered Brain

Much like Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt, Burnett links humorous and touching personal stories with scientific knowhow . . . As the author states in his introduction, Emotional Ignorance is not a book he planned to write – but I’m very glad he did ― Buzz Magazine

Take some time out with this brilliant book to acknowledge that without emotions we wouldn’t be able to grieve, regret, celebrate or love – or to put it simply – be wonderfully human ― Stylist

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Guardian Faber Publishing
Publication date ‏ : ‎ 4 Jan. 2024
Edition ‏ : ‎ Main
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1783351748
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1783351749
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 330 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13 x 1.5 x 19.5 cm
Best Sellers Rank: 386,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 210 in Neuroscience Biology
- 221 in The Human Brain
- 2,524 in Psychological Schools of Thought
Customer reviews:
56 ratings

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Dean Burnett

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Dr Dean Burnett is a PhD Neuroscientists, experienced tutor and lecturer, regular blogger/contributor for the Guardian and other mainstream publications, and now international bestselling author following his debut book The Idiot Brain ('Idiot Brain' in the US).

The genesis of Idiot Brain is unusual in that Dean Burnett hadn't actually planned to write a book but was offered the opportunity following his highly-popular blogging efforts. When he expressed reluctance at writing a book about the brain because "all brain books treat it with such reverence, but I think it's a bit rubbish", his publishers suggested he write a book about why he thought that, and that were Idiot Brain first began.

Expecting it to be a flash in the pan that people would just nod at before getting on with their lives, Dean had no plans or expectations regarding the writing of a second book, but Idiot Brain's success meant one was soon expected. In a panic, Dean asked all his colleagues/friends/fellow writers/passing strangers what they thought would be a good subject for a second book. Everyone provided different ideas, but one common refrain was 'You just need to write about whatever makes you happy". Being an intensely literal sort, he decided he would indeed write about the neurobiological mechanisms that make us happy.

And that's how Happy Brain was created.

Dean Burnett has appeared on NPR's Fresh Air, CBC's The Current, Ireland's NewsTalk and countless platforms and publications in the UK. The TV rights for Idiot Brain were purchased by Whoopi Goldberg's 'One Ho' productions.

He is currently a Research Associate (Honorary) at Cardiff University Psychology School, and lives in Cardiff with his wife, two children, and alarmingly psychopathic kitten Pickle.

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Customer reviews

56 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful, with one noting how it pieces together the latest research. They describe it as emotionally enlightening, with one customer mentioning how it helped them make sense of their grief. Customers find the content fascinating, and one describes it as a well-written popular science book.

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Insight Emotion level Entertainment value Writing quality

5 customers mention ‘Insight’5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful, with one review highlighting its meticulous research and integration of the latest findings, while another appreciates its interviews and anecdotes.

"...a range of aspects that I found intriguing, illuminating and thought provoking...." Read more

"Dean Burnett’s fifth book is an insightful and fascinating exploration of our emotions, how they work and how they enhance all of our lives..." Read more

"I have enjoyed Dr Burnett's other books and this is another great exploration." Read more

"Reading this book provided new insights, and that is always a positive...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Emotion level’3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book emotionally enlightening, with one mentioning how it helped them make sense of their grief, while another describes it as a heartfelt love letter.

"...about his own emotions around the loss of his father, making sense of his grief, and giving an insight into why many of us think and feel the way we..." Read more

"Dean Burnett’s fifth book is an insightful and fascinating exploration of our emotions, how they work and how they enhance all of our lives..." Read more

"...woven through this well written popular science book such a heartfelt love letter to the authors father, wife and family...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Entertainment value’3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fascinating and entertaining.

"...this book we explore emotions from a range of aspects that I found intriguing, illuminating and thought provoking...." Read more

"...It's fascinating stuff and far more complex than you might think...." Read more

"...Fascinating stuff." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Writing quality’3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book, with one describing it as a well-written popular science book.

"...He writes with great honesty about his own emotions around the loss of his father, making sense of his grief, and giving an insight into why many of..." Read more

"...loss ends up so positive and life affirming is a testament to the writer’s skill and the honesty about his own feelings and relationships he has put..." Read more

"...I didn’t expect though, was to find woven through this well written popular science book such a heartfelt love letter to the authors father, wife..." Read more

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Amazon Customer
A brilliant, honest and insightful book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 January 2023
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Dean Burnett’s fifth book is an insightful and fascinating exploration of our emotions, how they work and how they enhance all of our lives (and why it doesn’t always feel that way). Whilst, as the author outlines, there is still a lot we don’t know about how emotions work and why they are so unpredictable there is a wealth of detail here to help the reader grasp our current understanding and a lot of the myths and fallacies that exist around the subject.
The author’s previous work has been full of his dry sense of humour and whilst that is present here (frequently in the footnotes) what really brings this book to life is how much of himself he puts into it. Written during lockdown after a personal loss Burnett’s own emotional journey and struggle to understand what he was (and still is) feeling infuses the book with personality and insight. That a book about loss ends up so positive and life affirming is a testament to the writer’s skill and the honesty about his own feelings and relationships he has put into this brilliant book.

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2 people found this helpful

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Amazonian Customer
Fascinating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 April 2024
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Emotional ignorance is a well thought out, meticulously researched investigation into how much is known about our emotions, how they work and what they are for.

When his father died during the Covid 19 pandemic, Dean Burnett was understandably overcome with grief. But unlike most people, he questioned these intense feelings and set out to discover more. Why do emotions often have such physical effects on our bodies? Do our emotions really get in the way of rational thought? Why do certain smells trigger emotional memories?

What he found out is that science is only just beginning to understand emotions. To start with, they are impossible to define, and how can you study something if you can't even say what it is?

With his trademark humour, he pieces together the latest research, interviews and anecdotes. He explores four main areas where our emotions impact the way we behave: cognition, memory, communication and relationships, finishing with a chapter on how technology can help and hinder our emotional life. It's fascinating stuff and far more complex than you might think. With the use of some imaginative analogies, Dean Burnett makes it all understandable and entertaining.

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A. Croft
Beautiful and informative
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2023
Verified Purchase
My brother likes to pretend he has no emotions. His emotional hero is Spock. I bought this to find out more, shove the book at him and say Yah Boo Sucks, You’re Wrong.

Inevitably, the truth is a little more complicated than that. Through this book we explore emotions from a range of aspects that I found intriguing, illuminating and thought provoking. What I didn’t expect though, was to find woven through this well written popular science book such a heartfelt love letter to the authors father, wife and family. A scientific book about emotions that causes emotions. A wonder indeed.

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6 people found this helpful

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CAL
Irritating Style
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 June 2023
Verified Purchase
Reading this book provided new insights, and that is always a positive. The experience would have been more enjoyable for me personally, however, if it had been conveyed in a more orthodox style. It is not the author‘s fault that a confessional tone does not appeal to me, but surely it is not too much to ask, even of a scientist, that s/he should master the construction of unreal sentences and spare us a string of misplaced „likes“? And might somebody have told the author „bacteria“ is the plural of „bacterium“ and it is therefore incorrect to speak of „so much bacteria“. The book is published by Faber, a well known, reputable publishing house. Don‘t they employ editors any more who would spot such blunders and also point out repetitions? The book reads as if (NOT „like“!) the author could not make up his mind whether to address teenagers who are sifting through their emotions, or adults with an enquiring mind. I wished he had opted squarely for the latter.

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7 people found this helpful

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drewburrett
Emotionally Enlightening
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 December 2023
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Having read much if Dean Burnett's other work, I knew I would enjoy this latest one. He writes with great honesty about his own emotions around the loss of his father, making sense of his grief, and giving an insight into why many of us think and feel the way we do. Fascinating stuff.

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Emma Woodall
Another great book by Dr Burnett
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 March 2023
Verified Purchase
I have enjoyed Dr Burnett's other books and this is another great exploration.

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Paula Noble
Pop psychology
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 May 2025
Format: Audible Audiobooks
Quite good and he's definitely funny sometimes,BUT not very scientific much. He comes across as a bit emotionally immature and says the word'LIKE' Way tooooo much.. he could do with reading Proffessor Brene Brown... All of her books.

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One more opinion
Not for me....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 January 2025
Format: Paperback
I gave up on it really quite early on. That's very rare for me, but it was just boring. Pop science of the most banal kind. For someone claiming a scientific approach it was the second or third time of mentioning a supposed truth then looking at the why. But the 'truth' was a social construct. Just boring and exasperating.

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